Bernie Sanders Podcast: Former Presidential Hopeful Brings His Talk Show To iTunes

One-time presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has launched his own political podcast. Sanders, who lost last year’s Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, has quietly launched an iTunes version of his popular Facebook live stream The Bernie Sanders Show, which touts itself as a way to “stay informed on the political revolution,” and follows Sanders’ activities in the Senate.

According to the Verge, the podcast arrived on Apple’s iTunes with three episodes dated March 27, 28, and 29, all of which appear to have been taken from the aforementioned Bernie Sanders Show live stream. However, Sanders is just now advertising its existence, with a short tweet.

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As to be expected, the podcast focuses on many of the left wing issues at the heart of the Vermont senator’s 2016 presidential campaign. The show, which previously lived primarily on Facebook, has in the past guest starred the likes of Rev. William Barber, a North Carolina political leader; famous science guy Bill Nye; and director and playwright Josh Fox, amongst other left-leaning activists and journalists, with Sanders using the show as an opportunity to discuss climate change, civil rights and other political matters close to his heart.

The podcast appears to be largely geared towards supporters of Sanders and not winning over supporters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. However, it does offer supporters a medium for following Sanders, when news of his activities could easily be overshadowed by news from the White House.

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“Election days come and go, but political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end,” the show’s iTunes description reads.

Meanwhile, Sanders discussed the idea behind the show with NBC News, saying “(The show) gives me an opportunity to speak directly to many millions of people about the work that we’re doing about the issues that we consider to be important,” allowing him to get his message around what he calls the “corporate media” and directly to supporters.

Sanders launched his first and only presidential campaign in May 2015, joining the Democratic party to seek its nomination. Sanders focused his primary campaign on issues not typically pursued by the Democratic party and its frontrunner Hillary Clinton, whilst gaining a strong following amongst younger voters.

“I don’t believe that the men and women who defended American democracy fought to create a situation where billionaires own the political process,” he said in his announcement speech.

Unlike the other major candidates, Sanders did not pursue funding through a Super PAC or major donors, instead turning to small individual donations. Through this model, Sanders raised $20 million in January 2016 alone, with an average donation of just $27.16. Meanwhile, the campaign also relied heavily on social media, using platforms like Twitter and Facebook to mobilize supporters, in turn gaining Sanders a large grassroots following.

After the final primary election, Hillary Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Despite Clinton’s unpopularity amongst his supporters, Sanders endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee not long after he dropped out of the race and spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention on July 25, giving Clinton his full support. Sanders later told his reluctant supporters that their best option was “to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Hillary Clinton,” or face a Trump presidency.

Since Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in November 2016 and Trump’s subsequent inauguration in January 2017, Sanders has continued to speak out against the Trump administration. In fact, he’s even printed out large copies of the president’s tweets to display during discussions in the Senate.